Joseph Hage Aaronson

Prior Complaint for Same Conduct Inadmissible under Rule 404(b) Absent Prior Admission of Liability or Evidence the Acts Alleged Were Committed — Irrelevant on Intent or Awareness Conduct Was Unlawful

United States v. Bailey, 696 F.3d 794 (9th Cir 2012): Bailey was the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gateway, a small, public company involved in selling health and dietary supplements. In 2002, Bailey…

Unretained Expert Disclosure vs. Retained Expert Report — Who Bears Burden of Proof as to Which Is Required — Witness May Be Subject to Providing Both as to Different Portions of Testimony — When Treating Physician = Retained Expert

In re Denture Cream Products Liability Litigation, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152277 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 22, 2012): Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a) sets forth requirements for disclosing expert testimony. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2). Parties must identify any…

New Article — Interesting Circuit Splits on Federal Procedural Issues

A new article analyzing some procedural circuit splits of practical importance can be accessed here: Interesting Circuit Splits on Federal Procedural Issues.

“Tight Causal Relationship” Required to State Claim for Legal Malpractice Liability in New York

Farrell Family Ventures, LLC v. Sekas, 863 F. Supp. 2d 324 (S.D.N.Y. 2012): LEGAL MALPRACTICE CAUSE OF ACTION In order to state a claim for legal malpractice, a party must allege that (1) the attorney was negligent; (2) such negligence…

Re-Asserting Position Previously Rejected by the Courts, and Failing to Cite to Judicial Rejections (Including Those Handed Down during Pendency of Appeal), Sanctionable under § 1927

Parker v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 21585 (10th Cir. Oct. 17, 2012): The only remaining issue is CitiMortgage’s motion for sanctions against the trustee’s lawyer. Title 28 of U.S.C. § 1927 provides in pertinent part that “[a]ny attorney…

SLUSA Does Not Permit Removal of a Federal Securities Class Action Originally Filed in State Court Stating Claims under the 1933 Act — Caselaw Split Partially Immune from Appellate Review — CAFA Split Also Noted — Good Quote: Statutory Construction

Niitsoo v. Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158049 (S.D. W. Va. Nov. 5, 2012): Pending before the court is the plaintiff’s Motion to Remand Case to the Circuit Court of Boone County [Docket 13]. The disposition of…

Spoliation Found for Destruction of Records That Statute and Rules Required be Preserved in Circumstances Where Litigation or at Least Controversy Was Foreseeable (Residential Funding Standard) — No Sanctions Because Minimal Relevance

Johnson v. Metro. Gov’t of Nashville & Davidson Cnty., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 21793 (6th Cir. Oct. 18, 2012): I. Spoilation of Evidence Before addressing the merits, we turn first to Plaintiffs’ claim that the district court erred in refusing…

Must RICO Damages Be Clear and Definite? — Circuit Split — State Work Comp Statute Cannot Bar Federal RICO Remedy for Fraudulent Denial of Benefits — Rooker-Feldman Inapplicable

Jackson v. Segwick [Sedgwick] Claims Mgmt. Servs., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 22557 (6th Cir. Nov. 2, 2012) (note: highly divided 3-judge panel): I. BACKGROUND Clifton Jackson was employed by Coca-Cola when he allegedly injured his lumbosacral spine at work in…

Equitable Estoppel as Basis for Compelling Arbitration against Non-Signatory — Claim Must Arise out of an Obligation Created by Contract Containing the Arbitration Clause

Weingarten Realty Investors v. Miller, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 21984 (5th Cir. Oct. 22, 2012): ***WRI and Miller Sheriden, LLC (“Miller Sheriden”), an LLC organized by Miller, created a joint venture, Weingarten Miller Sheriden (“WMS”), and WRI loaned that joint…

First-Filed Rule — Required Degree of Overlap between Actions —- Is Complete Identity of Parties Required? (Circuit Split) — Exceptions: “Improper Anticipatory Actions” and “Balance of Convenience and Interest of Justice”

Wyler-Wittenberg v. MetLife Home Loans, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150865 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2012): The Plaintiff Patricia Wyler-Wittenberg … commenced this putative collective and class action against MetLife Home Loans, a Division of MetLife Bank, N.A. … and MetLife,…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Prior Complaint for Same Conduct Inadmissible under Rule 404(b) Absent Prior Admission of Liability or Evidence the Acts Alleged Were Committed — Irrelevant on Intent or Awareness Conduct Was Unlawful

Unretained Expert Disclosure vs. Retained Expert Report — Who Bears Burden of Proof as to Which Is Required — Witness May Be Subject to Providing Both as to Different Portions of Testimony — When Treating Physician = Retained Expert

New Article — Interesting Circuit Splits on Federal Procedural Issues

“Tight Causal Relationship” Required to State Claim for Legal Malpractice Liability in New York

Re-Asserting Position Previously Rejected by the Courts, and Failing to Cite to Judicial Rejections (Including Those Handed Down during Pendency of Appeal), Sanctionable under § 1927

SLUSA Does Not Permit Removal of a Federal Securities Class Action Originally Filed in State Court Stating Claims under the 1933 Act — Caselaw Split Partially Immune from Appellate Review — CAFA Split Also Noted — Good Quote: Statutory Construction

Spoliation Found for Destruction of Records That Statute and Rules Required be Preserved in Circumstances Where Litigation or at Least Controversy Was Foreseeable (Residential Funding Standard) — No Sanctions Because Minimal Relevance

Must RICO Damages Be Clear and Definite? — Circuit Split — State Work Comp Statute Cannot Bar Federal RICO Remedy for Fraudulent Denial of Benefits — Rooker-Feldman Inapplicable

Equitable Estoppel as Basis for Compelling Arbitration against Non-Signatory — Claim Must Arise out of an Obligation Created by Contract Containing the Arbitration Clause

First-Filed Rule — Required Degree of Overlap between Actions —- Is Complete Identity of Parties Required? (Circuit Split) — Exceptions: “Improper Anticipatory Actions” and “Balance of Convenience and Interest of Justice”

Recent Articles

nherent Power Sanction of Dismissal — Preponderance of the Evidence Burden of Proof, Not Clear and Convincing Evidence (7th Circuit)

§ 1927 Sanctions — Must A Lawyer Who Unreasonably and Vexatiously Multiplies Federal Court Proceedings Be Acting “As An Attorney” When Committing the Misconduct To Be Subject to Sanction under § 1927?

Rule 37 Sanctions — Unfamiliarity With Litigation Process Does Not Excuse Intentional Disregard of Court Order — Also Affirming Rule 26(g) Sanctions on Clients and Counsel for False Representations That All Responsive Documents Had Been Produced

Supreme Court: Notice of Appeal Filed After The Original Deadline But Before Reopening by The District Court Is Timely — It Relates Forward to The Date of The Order Making The Appeal Possible — Second Notice of Appeal After Reopening Unnecessary

Rule 37 Default Judgment: Second Circuit’s Four-Factor Test for Imposing Defaults and Three-Factor Test for Lifting Them

RICO: Cover-Up Within Limitations Period of Untimely RICO Violation “Was Merely A Continuation” Of The Original Injury And Could Not Be Used “As A ‘Bootstrap’ To Salvage [The] Time-Barred Claims–Declining to Apply Pinkerton Doctrine to Civil RICO Claims

Inherent Power — Circumstantial Evidence — Fact That Bad Faith May Be Shown by Establishing That Conduct Was So Egregious It Was Necessarily Committed in Bad Faith Does Not Mean That Bad Faith Must Be The Sole Explanation for The Bad Conduct

RICO Causation: Testing Labs’ Misstatements As to Alcohol Tests’ Efficacy Not Communicated to Plaintiffs’ Employers Did Not Cause Plaintiffs’ Professional Harm

Archives

New York Office